Criminal Law Procedure
Crime Victims Litigation Clinic
Crime Victims Litigation Clinic (CVLC) at Lewis & Clark School operates under the supervision of Clinical Professor Meg Garvin and offers second and third-year law students the unique opportunity to be on the cutting edge of criminal law and procedure.
Crime Victims Litigation Clinic (CVLC)
The majority of CVLC’s work involves issues of first impression, which means students will not merely be finding and interpreting the law but they will help create law. Students will write legal memoranda to inform litigation and draft amicus curiae briefs for appellate courts nationwide. In addition to casework, students will have the opportunity to contribute to legal policy through legislative analysis and model legislation drafting.
Students will have the chance to work with the entire legal team of the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI).
CVLC Course Description
Crime Victims Litigation Clinic – Professor Meg Garvin
Course Number: LAW-756
Course Type: Highly Specialized & Experiential
Credits: 3
Enrollment Limit: 6
Description: Under the supervision of Executive Director Meg Garvin, and the lawyers of the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI), students learn both practical and theoretical approaches to the assertion and enforcement of victims’ rights within the criminal justice system. In a weekly 2 and 1/2 hour class, students learn basic victims’ rights jurisprudence, Blue Book citation, and trial and appellate level victims’ rights practice, including effective motion practice and general practice skills. Students also benefit from guest lectures by national crime victims’ rights experts and experienced crime victim attorneys and allied professionals (e.g. psychologists).
In addition to in-class hours during the Fall or Spring semester, students are required to work on projects a minimum of 8.5 – 10 hours per week, 6.5 of which must be in-person at NCVLI’s downtown office.
In addition to in-class hours during the Summer, students are required to work on cases/legal matters a minimum of 8 hours per week at NCVLI’s downtown office.
Through clinic participation, clinic students work to provide practicing attorneys and victim advocates information, research and legal analysis on victim law. These projects require the students to apply legal research, writing and analysis to live legal issues. Projects include researching and writing legal memoranda, drafting pleadings, and writing case summaries on victims’ rights-related issues and drafting model legislation. Students also have the opportunity to assist NCVLI in writing amicus curiae briefs for filing in state and federal trial and appellate courts nationwide.
Students who are certified may have the chance to represent victims on issues involving subpoenas for private information issued in criminal cases.
The Clinic is open to all students who have successfully completed their first year of law school.
Applications are not needed.
Payment of a $40 Clinic fee is required. Students should pay by making checks payable to NCVLI on the first day of class. The fee will be refunded in full if a student drops the class during the free add/drop period of the semester. After that, no refund will be issued.
Prerequisite: none
Evaluation Method: Credit/no credit based on written work competed in the course
Capstone: no
WIE: Professor permission required
The American Bar Association accreditation standards require students to regularly attend the courses in which they are registered. Lewis & Clark expects students to attend classes regularly and to prepare for classes conscientiously. Specific attendance requirements may vary from course to course. Any attendance guidelines for a given class must be provided to students in a syllabus or other written document at the start of the semester. Sanctions (e.g., required withdrawal from the course, grade adjustment, and/or a failing grade) will be imposed for poor attendance.
